A New York appeals court on Thursday overturned President Donald Trump’s $464 million civil fraud penalty but upheld a ruling that he inflated his wealth for decades, sparing him a half-billion-dollar fine while barring him and his two eldest sons from corporate leadership roles for several years.
The decision came seven months after the Republicans returned to the White House. A panel of five judges in New York's mid-level Appellate Division said the verdict, which stood to cost Trump more than $515 million and rock his real estate empire, was "excessive."
After finding Trump engaged in fraud by flagrantly padding financial statements that went to lenders and insurers, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered him last year to pay $355 million in penalties. With interest, the sum has topped $515 million.
The total - combined with penalties levied on some other Trump Organization executives, including Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr. - now exceeds $527 million, with interest.
"While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants' business culture, the court's disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution," Judges Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton wrote in one of several opinions shaping the appeals court's ruling.
